Doctor Who: God Complex
by CGD
Summary: STORY FOUR: The 16th Doctor is recalled to Earth to put a stop to a plot devised by his old enemy which U.N.I.T have unknowingly resurrected from the dead. (Good story with a bad description) Please give this a read, a review and possibly a favourite or follow and I'd be super greatful.
1. Prologue

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

This Prologue to the story is completely unrelated to the story but it seemed like a small starter to the story which kind of expanded. So anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this first part to The God Complex!

Prologue

Screams filled the control room as the red 'warning' lights flashed against the metallic walls and bounced about the space. The Captain slammed against the control console and opened a communications channel with Monty, the head engineer, down below in the bowels of the ship. The young black man's face appeared on the monitor; he was sweating profusely.

"_What's going on down there?_" The Captain bellowed at the computer controls; glaring at the engineer of his ship.

"It's the engines sir!" Monty cried as sparks flew from the nearest control panel and singed his side. "The energon crystals have exploded and torn up the engines! There is no way the ship can fly and that's even if we could get the thrusters online! All escape pods are powerless, emergency teleport circuits were fried in a black lash after the energon crystals exploded, life support can only hold up for another hour and I doubt we have enough power reserves to send out an emergency signal."

"So what you're saying is," The Captain began, feeling a tear come to his eye. "We're done for…"

"Yes Captain," Monty replied.

The ship shook violently as the vessel was pulled in by the gravity from the planet below. The ship contained four engineers, three scientists, two security officers, a pilot and a co-pilot and the Captain; all were going to be dead in a few minutes. The Captain turned to the two pilots at the front of the bridge whose efforts to get the ship out of orbit of the planet were useless. "Don't bother chaps, I'm afraid we're not going to make it, the Pirates have won."

The monitor furthest from the cockpit crew came up and The Captain staggered towards it; the Pirates appeared onscreen. "Hello Captain of the Fallen Eagle!" he waved; his skin was grey and scaly and his eyes shined red, his teeth were green with fungi and his four arms were stick thin. "We see that your ship is doomed to fall to the planet below; unless you give us some credits and we'll save you from your impending doom!" A voice spoke from the behind the figure on the screen and then the Captain of the opposite ship spoke again, "You have five seconds to decide."

The Captain's head spun; could he pay a ransom for the life of his crew? It was a ridiculous decision in such a short amount of time. He couldn't decide, loose his position as Captain by paying a ransom or kill himself and his crew out of pride.

"Excuse me," a posh and eloquent voice said through the speakers built into the control room. "But I recommend you don't pay that ransom."

"And why not?" asked the Alien Captain on the monitor; grimacing and showing even more of his cracked teeth.

"Because that would be a waste of good money," the voice replied.

"But they'll die!" the grey skinned creature barked back.

"No they won't," the man replied calmly.

"Captain!" the pilot called. "The scanner's picking up something."

"Probably a meteor," the Captain replied.

"No it's not sir," the co-pilot informed him. "It's a box and it's moving at an impossible speed."

"What?" the Captain asked; completely ignoring the pirate.

The ship shook and suddenly stopped completely, "We've stopped," the Pilot gasped.

"_How can we have stopped?_" the Captain barked as he made his way to the front of the deck and looked out of the reinforced glass viewing screen to see a blue box spinning in space.

"That would have to be me," the posh voice chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you can see my blue box just up ahead."

"That's you?" the Captain squinted to see it closer. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm The Doctor and I just want to help; no fee, no bargain and no ulterior move in my mind," the voice replied. "Now let's get you out of orbit where I can get you lot fix up."

The ship shuddered again and they began to notice that the blue box, while spinning, was pulling them away from the planet and out into space. The Captain smiled to his two pilots as they moved from the large orb.

"How dare you!" The Pirate screamed as the bodiless voice. "I will kill you both for this outrage."

"I'm afraid you won't," the voice replied and The Captain could tell the owner of the velvety tones was smiling. "Because currently I'm using a shield to drain the power from your ship."

"What?" the Pirate screamed as he saw that the lights around him began to faze in and out.

The Captain's ship, once out of the nearby planet's orbit, stopped moving and the blue box began to glow and disappear. The Captain looked at his pilot, both completely confused, and then turned around as a strange noise filled the bridge. Lights moved about at the back of his ship and suddenly a blue box began appear. The noise faded and a blue phone box appeared in its entirety.

"What the hell?" The Captain stepped towards the box. The door opened and a man stepped out. He adjusted his blue bowtie and then his equally blue tuxedo; before stroking his perfectly groomed grey beard.

"Hello gentlemen, I'm The Doctor, now where's the rest of your crew," he smirked. He was of average height and muscle weight and he looked old but he had clearly aged well. His teeth were a brilliant white as he smiled at all of them; all the members of the cockpit just stared at him. He closed the box's door, "Well come on gentlemen you barely have an hour's life support left!"

"The crew's all around the ship," The Captain told him. "Power's down so we can't open the teleport links or the elevators."

"Do you have any access shafts?" The Time Lord enquired; producing his small crème and blue topped sonic screwdriver, he moved it about in his hand feeling the slight cracks in the casing.

"Yes just over there," the Captain pointed to the corner of the ship's main deck. The Doctor walked over there and aimed his sonic device at the screws which held the metal panel, which covered the access shaft, in place. "You're not going through them are you?"

"Well how else can I get to the crew," The Doctor retorted as he pulled the panel free from the wall and put the sonic in between his teeth. "See you in a minute," he replied through gritted teeth; he hauled himself through the tight metal tunnel.

* * *

Monty dodged a fountain of sparks and tried to find some sort of control panel which he could use to assess the damage further. But every place he turned there was fire and sparks and smoke. The team of engineers around him tried to cover all the damage but it was too much; they didn't have the right supplies for the job, it was doomed!

A strange sound vibrated through the metal hull, Monty turned to see the panel covering the access shaft clatter to the floor and a man crawled through. He jumped to his feet and dusted himself off before sprinting into the chaos. "Where's the Head Engineer!" the stranger shouted.

"Who are you?" Monty ordered as the man made his way towards him.

"I'm The Doctor and right now you need to get your ship stabilised," the Time Lord in blue replied. "Going by the readings I took from my ship, your engine will drain all the power from the vessel in an attempt to fully restart itself but this in turn will cause the engine to explode and take this ship and the planet below with it!"

"But we don't have the supplies to fix it," Monty told him.

"Well lucky you have me then," The Doctor remarked as he pulled out a small tube which he then pointed at the flames on one of the panels. The heat suddenly disappeared and the fire died. "Get the controls fixed," he ordered an engineer while he moved to the next fire.

Monty watched as The Doctor extinguished the flames that had overrun his engine room while issuing commands to _his_ technicians; he would have been offended but in that situation he was too busy trying to save the ship.

As the last flame and spark went out The Doctor stored the tube away in his jacket and found the large engine at the centre. The design of it was basic, shine photon beams through a supercharged crystal and absorbed the enhanced light that poured off it; a supersized version of a solar panel. But right then the crystal had shattered and fried half the circuits throughout the ship; a powerful energy source but also highly dangerous if broken.

The Time Lord opened a panel at the bottom and assessed the damage to the internal components, "Okay so it works on a circuit and only one faulty part." He peered closer to mess of silicon and recognised the part. "I don't have one of these but the cell here only needs replacing…" he began to search his pockets for the required part when Monty came over.

"Excuse me but what are you doing?"

"Well your engine isn't that badly damaged you just need to replace a part inside it, fix the holding bay's shielding for the power source and then replace the shattered crystal and it will all be good," The Doctor informed him. He produced the required item, "Now please stand back dear fellow while I fix your ship."

The Doctor began to replace the item with a whir of the sonic screwdriver; Monty glared at him, "Yes _my_ ship!"

The Doctor finished what he was doing and looked up, "Do I sense a feeling of animosity here?" He rose off the ground, covered the inner working of the engine with the metal panel, and moved around to the crystal holding bay.

"Well you have just come down to _my_ deck and took control of _my_ engineers," Monty snapped at the Time Lord.

"Well why shouldn't I?" The Doctor asked as he opened the chamber up and scanned it with his eyes. "You weren't coping on your own but _I could_ so I took charge."

The Time Lord began to reach inside and removed part of the lining to reveal a mesh of multi-coloured wires. Monty glared at him with a furious rage, "_How dare you!_"

"Oh shut up," The Doctor sighed as he switched two wires. "I don't have time for idiots with large mouths; I have lives to save." The Time Lord powered up the container and smiled at his own handiwork. "Now for the crystal."

"And where are you going to get one of those?" Monty mocked; his crew were too busy working to notice his childishness.

"From my pocket," the alien smirked as he took a green crystal from his jacket. "Well actually I got it from my T.A.R.D.I.S and put it in my jacket before I left; having a jacket with pockets bigger on the inside is great." He made sure the claw which held the crystal was firmly balanced and sat properly before placing the crystal on the top and sealing the chamber.

The Doctor walked to the control panel attached to the engine and looked about, the team of engineers had finished their work, so he activated the main engine and felt its buzz. "It's online," The Doctor grinned. He turned his head to another engineer, "How's it looking down your end."

"All up and running," the engineer smiled; constantly checking the readings. "We're gaining power by the minute."

The Doctor moved from the control panel, "Good now try and get power to the elevators."

"What about you?" a blonde female engineer asked.

The Doctor put his sonic screwdriver between his teeth and got on his knees to crawl into the access shaft, he spoke with a mumble through the sonic device, "Rescue the rest of the crew."

* * *

The Captain stared at the monitors as they began to activate, "What's happening?"

"They've fixed the engines and the powers stabilising," The Pilot told him. "But the thrusters of the ship are broken and the life support is damaged and failing; even if they manage to get the power back up to at least 45 percent we won't survive."

"So you're saying that the engines are fixed but we still can't move and in less than…" he checked his watch, "Thirty two minutes; we'll die."

"Yes Captain," the Pilot replied. "Let's hope this Doctor has got something good up his sleeve."

"Me too," The Captain sighed; collapsing into his commanding chair. "Me too…"

* * *

The Doctor undid the metal screws and crawled from the tunnel and out into the open. The three scientists were trying to open the doors to the elevator tunnel since the control panel next to it had come to life.

"Hello," The Doctor said to the group. They spun around with terrified looks on their faces. "Don't be alarmed. Please could you crawl into this access shaft quickly and climb upwards towards the main deck where the crew are being assembled."

The scientists stared at him with a puzzled expression. "Who are you?"

"I don't have time for this," The Doctor replied. "Just get moving!"

The three scholars slowly made their way towards the access shaft and began to crawl through. The Doctor wondered what the ship was doing to have such an extensive laboratory; but he pushed the thought aside and focused on saving its members. He followed them through the metal tunnel beginning to feel slight claustrophobic.

As they crawled along the shaft and found the way towards the cross centre where there lay a ladder running up and down the decks of the space vessel. The team of scientists made their way towards the ladder as The Doctor followed behind.

"Up the ladder and wait for me at the main deck," The Doctor ordered. As they began to climb; a tremor shook the whole ship. The scientists nearly fell off the ladder as they climbed; The Doctor stumbled and looked about, "What was that?"

The Doctor guessed that the security officers were just opposite the laboratory so he turned to another tunnel and dove into it. He rapidly scrabbled down the metallic shaft and arrived at the end access panel. With fumbling hands he undid the metal plate and slid into the main security quarters.

Before he could say '_Hello_' blasters were aimed and primed at his face. "Who are you?" barked a tall auburn male; his jaw was square and his shoulders were broad.

"I'm The Doctor and I'm here to rescue you."

"From what?"

"From whatever that just made your ship shake," The Doctor replied.

"That's the engine," his male, blonde, broad shouldered colleague said.

"No I fixed the engine but something caused a tremor within the ship," The Doctor said soothingly. "Now please let me stand and make a communication with your Captain; I have to find out what's going on here."

"Let him go boys," The Captain appeared on a nearby monitor; he had a grim expression plastered onto his face.

"Yes sir," they both replied in unison before powering down their weapons and stepping back.

"What's going on Captain?" The Time Lord adjusted his T.A.R.D.I.S blue bow tie.

"It's the Pirates Doctor," the Captain replied. "Their ships back online and they're firing missiles straight at us and all power we have is being diverted to the shields which are already crumbling."

The Doctor's mind whirred with ideas and tactics but he came upon the perfect one, "I may not be the best incarnation for all out warfare but I do have some skills." He placed his hands onto a metallic keyboard and rapidly tapped in data. "I'm sending you a code which you need to put into your shields; it will serve as a distraction for a few minutes while I get up to the main deck." He sent the code through and stepped back.

"Will do Doctor," the Captain replied.

"Now chaps," The Time Lord walked towards the access shaft while looking at the two men. "In here and we'll go up to the main deck."

Reluctantly, the two men followed the blue suited man through the tunnel and up the ladder which had stopped shaking for some reason and out onto the main deck. The control room was full of the crew and the T.A.R.D.I.S; so they had to struggle to get to the front.

"They've stopped firing," the Co-Pilot remarked.

"That's because of the cloaking shield I put around the ship," The Doctor said with a slight swagger. "The code, it turned your shield into a cloaking device which means they think we've disappeared. Now I'm going to make a deal with them."

"What deal?" the Captain asked as The Doctor reopened the communication channel between the ship and the pirates.

"They live or they die," The Doctor told him with a grim tone of voice. "Not my favourite choice but they're the ones that will make it."

The screen lit up and The Doctor stared at them coldly. The grey scaled pirate glared at the Time Lord, "Come to surrender?"

"No," The Doctor replied, not even making a joke out of it. "I'm giving you a choice. One is to turn and leave or the second is that I blow your ships up like birthday balloon. I recommend you decide one way but it's not called freewill for nothing."

The pirate snorted, "Are you threatening me? An old Earth man? Threatening me! Do you know who I am?"

"No but the real question is do you know who I am?" The Doctor retorted. "I'm not human and I'm not weak or feeble much to what you obviously think. I've battled Daleks and Cybermen and Sontarons and Gods and Devils and compared to them you are a child. So I'll give you the chance again; leave or die."

"I'll stay and blow you up first!" the Pirate sneered. "Because obviously you're still in the same place but with a cloaking field around you!"

"Oh have you seen through my clever disguise?" The Doctor asked with sarcasm. "Well I'd better get to work stopping you then shouldn't I?"

"And how will you do that? Doctor?"

"I'm glad you asked," The Doctor smiled producing his sonic screwdriver. "You see this device used to work on sonic wavelengths alone but I then adapted it to use radio waves to control computers and other electronic devices." He began to adjust the settings. "Now a ship is controlled by computers and circuits and signals and things I can't explain right now and my device here can control all those things." He extended an access cable from the nearest wall and plugged it into the sonic screwdriver. "If I plug this into the ship and use its satellites to enhance the signal then with a flick of a switch," he pointed to the single control on the tube like device, "I can blow up your entire ship."

The Pirate finally caught up, "You wouldn't."

"Just as much as you would," The Doctor replied. "And we all know the answer to that." The Doctor steadied his finger on the button. "I'm sorry, I'm very sorry but I tried to save you from yourselves but you didn't want to play ball. Now it's time for the games to end."

He pressed the button and the ship across from them exploded. A ball of fire expanded and moved out until the lack of oxygen in space snuffed it out. They died in silence and that's how The Doctor liked it; it made him feel less guilty in the end.

The crew watched the man unhook and pocket the device before producing a small box with a few controls on the side. He tossed it to The Captain and said, "Attach this to your transmitter and it will boost the signal for light years; you'll have someone pick you up soon."

And with that he turned on the balls of his feet and walked sombrely towards his T.A.R.D.I.S. The Captain handed the box to Monty, hoping he'd put it to good use, and walked after the weary wanderer. "Doctor?"

The Time Lord used his key to open the door and pushed it open a fraction, "Yes."

"Thank you," the Captain replied.

"No thank you necessary," The Doctor smiled weakly. "Now I must be off before I have to blow up something else." With those final words he entered the box and closed the door.

The crew stared as the air in the cabin whipped their faces and the blue box began to fade in and out. With its strange groan and wheeze; the T.A.R.D.I.S and The Doctor disappeared from the ship completely.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The experiment was about to begin and everyone was incredibly nervous. Hundreds of tests and equations, theories and cups of coffee had led to this. Colonel Laura Pullman wasn't part of the experiment; she was Head of U.N.I.T and part of protocol was that she had to be present.

She ran her hands along her grey blazer and moved a long strand brown hair out of her eyes. The specimen walked over and shook her hand. He had styled black hair and soft brown eyes; his jaw was square and his build was sturdy, Laura still couldn't quite believe that he was going to be their victim of this almost horrific experiment.

"Louis," he said as she shook her hand; introducing himself.

"Colonel Pullman," she replied; going with her professional title.

"You're here to watch our little experiment," he smiled at her with his dazzling white teeth.

"Yes I am."

"Well I just want to reassure you on the safety," Louis told her. "I was on the research team and have checked and double checked everything before putting myself into harm's way."

"Well let's hope so," she replied.

A woman in a lab coat tapped Louis shoulder and led him off to the next room. Laura watched through a glass window as the strapping man was taken into a glass cubicle and tied down.

Laura watched in a strange awe as the group of scientists began to activate controls and set the experiment into motion. Slowly needles made their way towards Louis, on robotic arms, and injected him in the exact same moment. Louis cried out as liquid was injected into his system and he writhed in pain. As the needles retracted; he thrashed about and the whole team of scientists monitored his vitals with a slight worry.

They were beginning to drop rapidly until he flat lined. Louis died in a slump and the entire group held their breath. Laura sighed; it was a waste of money and a life, _and_ she had to sign all of the paper work.

As the group began to undo all of the locks inside the chamber, Louis came back to the life. He immediately sat up and opened his eyes which had changed from a warm brown to a startling emerald green with an almost lizard like quality. He laughed manically and all of them stared at him in horror and wonder.

Louis then spoke, "Finally I am free!" He looked down at the straps which bound him to a metallic surface and snapped them with a grunt of effort. Once his limbs were free he punched the reinforced glass casing and it shattered. He clambered out and laughed again. "Finally; I can get my revenge on The Doctor!"

A woman ran into the room, "Louis are you okay?" she placed a hand on his topless shoulder. He didn't like it. Louis reached down and grabbed her by the neck and began to squeeze.

"I'm not Louis!" he screamed in her face. "**_I am The Master!_**"

He strangled her further before flinging her into a surgical table; she died before she even made impact. With a menacing grin he made his way to the door where armed guards began to appear.

"Colonel, come on!" an armed guard shouted at the head of U.N.I.T. He pulled her by the shoulder and she dragged out of the room. All she could think was that Project Kronos was over and now they had unleashed a great evil onto the universe.

* * *

The Doctor set the T.A.R.D.I.S to dematerialise with a sigh before leaning on the metallic console. The engines droned, wheezed and groaned, as The Doctor thought about what he'd just done. Once again he'd killed another group of people because he deemed it right; but was it right? That was the one question which he'd been trying to figure out for centuries; was what he did right? He saved lives but to do that he had to take them; should he be the one to do that, when he did he become God?

As the time rotor rose and fell in its usual rhythm; a light began to blink rapidly on a control panel. He turned his head towards it and shook off his depression. "What's this?" he thought aloud as he made his way over to the blinking light and pressed a button underneath it.

The Time Lord waited for a message to be relayed but nothing came, "A distress signal…no, it's far too basic for that…it must be a recall signal; but from who?" The Doctor rapidly tapped multiple controls and began to search for the origin point of the call. The results came up and The Doctor stroked his beard, "Earth…2012…U.N.I.T; they've recalled their Scientific Advisor." The Time Lord smirked before setting the coordinates into the ship. He changed the vessels course and held on as the entire ship shook.

"Looks like U.N.I.T need me once again," he laughed as his vessel rattled down the Time Vortex.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Laura stood outside the U.N.I.T headquarters, which was commonly known to the public as the Tower of London, as the rain started to come down in a drizzle. She didn't want to wait all this time but when it came to The Doctor she would wait for as long as possible; she'd got them into this mess and she had to be there with The Doctor to get them out of it.

She rubbed her arms for warmth as her breath created clouds which dissipated into the air. Time moved on and she started to grow bored. '_What if The Doctor didn't come_' The Time Lord didn't stay still like them and he appeared when and where he pleased and no one could stop him; so what was to say he'd help them now?

As she turned back towards the entrance of the Headquarters, she began to hear the magical sound that was the T.A.R.D.I.S. Lights danced in the air and Laura couldn't help smiling as the blue phone box appeared in front of her.

The door opened and The Doctor stepped out and locked it behind him. She didn't recognise the bearded man but going by his telephone box and his strange dress sense it must be the legendary Time Lord.

"Hello Doctor," Laura called as he finished locking up his vessel.

"Hello," The Doctor turned to face the brown haired woman. "And you are?"

"Colonel Laura Pullman; Head of United Nations Intelligence Taskforce," she shook hands with the legendary figure. "Thank you for coming."

"Oh I always come when I'm called," The Doctor smiled, rubbing his hand together. "Even if I'm not on the pay roll."

"Well we do have a rather large problem," Laura sighed as she made her way towards the entrance to the Base.

"Don't you always," the Time Lord joked.

The pair passed the guards and made their way towards a set of large doors when she replied, "Well this is even bigger than usual, it involves The Master…"

The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks. "What did you say?" his voice elevated.

"Look Doctor we'd better go inside," Laura began, motioning to the rain that was increasing by the second.

"No," The Time Lord interrupted, trying to keep calm, his voice stern. "Tell me now."

"I really think you should see for yourself…"

"No you're going to tell me right here right now because when you bring The Master into question you make the universe a darker place."

"We did some experiments…"

"What kind?" The Time Lord really was growing angrier by the second.

"Genetics," she replied; feeling sheepish. "Last Christmas there was an incident in the House of Joshua Naismith. He purchased a piece of alien technology which previously belonged to Torchwood-"

"I know, I was there," The Doctor interrupted. "But how does this involve The Master; he's dead, he died in the Time War."

"He may have died in the _Time_ War but we've made a mistake," she sighed and continued. "We found some of The Master's DNA at the incident and a group of geneticists, led by one of the countries' leading scientist Louis Cooper, came up with a project to use the DNA for the benefit of mankind. They came up with the theory that if they created a hybrid of human and Time Lord then we could become a superior race with a greater intelligence and the ability to live longer and better lives. But we created something worse…"

"You brought The Master back," The Doctor finished, almost snarling at the thought. "You injected his DNA into a human and now that human has become The Master!"

Laura, realising that The Doctor wasn't going to go inside without knowing all the information, produced a hand held tablet and found the video she wanted him to see, "This is the footage from the experiment."

The Time Lord peered at the screen as a poor quality video began to play on the device. A man was strapped down and needles were retracting from his skin. He was squirming and writhing in pain; he looked like he was in agony. "That," Laura began. "Is Louis, part of the team who create the serum and also the first test subject." They continued watching as the man writhing in pain and then he flat lined. Laura went to speak again but the Time Lord held his finger to his lips and stared at the screen as the man came back to life.

"Finally I am free!" Louis screamed from the tablet as he removed himself from the contraption by tearing his bonds and punching his way through reinforced glass. "Finally; I can get my revenge on The Doctor!" he screamed. A woman entered and tried to speak to him but he strangled her and said, "I'm not Louis! I'm The Master!" Then he flung her dead body aside and escaped.

Laura took back her tablet and closed it down, "He killed twenty five of my armed guards and thirty unarmed scientists. He then went on to the laboratories where he stole our only working Vortex Manipulator. Before leaving he left you a message."

The soldier produced the tablet once more and opened an image she'd taken of a wall. A message had been etched into the concrete by a laser and it read, '_Come and get me Doctor, if you dare!_'

The Doctor read the message; realising that it wasn't cryptic but a childish ploy, The Master was back and he wanted to have a game of chase to start off his new life. Laura put the tablet away as The Time Lord began to stroke his beard in a quiet anger.

"For once," The Doctor began. "For once I thought I could leave humanity to sort out its own problems. I thought I could trust you lot to stay out of trouble. But I was wrong; clearly I was very wrong. Humanity is a blundering, curious and stupid race who seem to send out every signal to the universe that they want to be the target for tragedy and chaos. And at the end of the day you press a button and call me in to pick up the pieces; '_don't worry about a war we nearly started The Doctor will clean it up!_' and the worst part is I have to; every day I have to sort out your problems because you can't do it yourselves. I can accept the Sycorax and the Sontarons and the stupid things you do but, when you resurrect The Master that's where I draw the line! I clearly can't trust you and now I'm off to sort out your problems!" The Doctor turned on his heels and flounced off; like a child who didn't have his way.

Laura followed the man as he walked off towards his blue box, producing his strangely shaped shield-like key, trying to think of the right words to say. Sorry wasn't good enough…they'd done something so stupid that the whole universe was in jeopardy. Sorry wasn't a strong enough word but it's all that came to mind.

"Doctor!" she called as he unlocked the doors and turned his head towards her.

"Yes?" he didn't sound happy.

"Let me come with you?"

"No," he replied. "I've got to do this alone; no distractions and no one to save when they get into more trouble."

"Please Doctor, I need to do this; as an apology, an apology to you and to the universe."

The Doctor pondered the idea and then walked inside the T.A.R.D.I.S without a word; leaving the door wide open.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_The Master had arrived at his first location. Being alive was electric; he loved it, the sensations and emotions were glorious. And the Chase, oh how he loved to have his old friend chase him across the universe; The Doctor did make him laugh. He could spend all his lives doing this…but lives were the problem._

_When The Master had been mistakenly resurrected by the humans into a human body he had become half human. _The Master was half human! _It made him want to be sick but he didn't have time. After playing his little prank on his fellow Time Lord he would sort out his problem of having only half of his brand new regeneration cycle._

_He knew that The Doctor would arrive soon in his old rickety T.A.R.D.I.S and he would try and stop him. So The Master decided he would hide and spring his trap; he'd formulated the plan on his journey through the Vortex but putting the plan into action gave him a rush like nothing else._

* * *

Laura practically jumped through the T.A.R. doors and felt her sensible flat office shoes hit the metal floor; sending vibrations through it. She closed the wooden door behind her and looked about the large metallic console room. She'd heard about the ship being bigger on the inside but it was much more breath taking in person.

The walls and floor were metal, circular indents sat inside the walls and shone out a bright white light; at the far back wall was an open doorway which lead down to a mighty labyrinth of corridors while in the centre of the room was the ship's main console; the glass time rotor sat perfectly still as the ship had landed.

"This is amazing," Laura smiled as she made her way towards the blue tuxedo wearing Time Lord; who was pressing controls on one of the six control panels. "I can't believe I'm finally here."

"I'm guessing you know about the T.A.R.D.I.S then," The Doctor replied as he set the T.A.R.D.I.S to scan for a certain type of residual energy.

"Only information from files and documents," she replied; she looked about to take it all in. "But it's nothing compared to actually being inside it."

The Doctor checked the scanner before looking up at the woman who looked like over one thousand Christmas' had come at once. She seemed to be enjoying this more than he expected. He then looked back at the console as he found what he wanted.

"What are you doing?" she asked, peering over his shoulder.

"I _was_ scanning for residual time energy left behind by the Master and his Vortex Manipulator," The Doctor explained. "Now I have the energy I'll simply follow it like a dog following a scent and I'll arrive at his destination; although we will arrive a few seconds later…"

The Doctor locked onto the signal and began to set the T.A.R. in flight. "Would you mind if I borrowed some clothes?" she asked; slipping off her suit jacket to show her white blouse.

"What?" he asked, focusing on the controls.

"Can I borrow some clothes from your wardrobe?" she asked again. "I read about its collection in the U.N.I.T files and I was wondering if I could borrow some."

"Um…well the journey shouldn't be that turbulent so I don't see why not…"

"Thanks," she smiled turning towards the corridor and beginning to underdo the buttons on her blouse. "So where is it."

"Down the corridor," he slowly turned around to see her shirt was wide open and he could see her white lace bra. "First left then…"

"What?" she asked; Laura then noticed what he was distracted by. "Oh sorry, I'm used to changing where ever and whenever." She covered herself with her shirt again; stopping The Doctor from staring at her chest. "So where did you say it was again?"

"Down the corridor, first left then right, past the bins and the next right," he told her while looking down at the console feeling ashamed that a woman could distract him by simply opening up her shirt and revealing her undergarments.

"Thanks," she smiled as she jogged off down the corridor.

The Doctor hoped she'd be quick, following a Vortex Manipulator through the Time Vortex took longer than a normal journey but it didn't take hours. He wasn't sure why he'd taken her along with him exactly but he had anyway. Maybe it was something in her words or the way she wanted to make up for what she'd done…or had he brought her along for her looks. Had he over the years become shallow and started to pick up companions because of their looks?

No, he dismissed the thought; The Doctor was a man of the mind and not for looks after all he was once to talk, constantly changing and altering his appearance and sometimes not for the better.

He flicked another switch, keeping the travel steady since he was known for flying his ship like a drunk driver; but over the years he had learnt to travel smoothly. As the ship turned around a bend of the Time Vortex again and came towards their destination.

He pressed a switch and activated the speaker system within the ship; he then spoke into it, "Colonel you'd better hurry up because we're coming into landing."

The system was two way so he got a reply, "Please call me Laura. And I'm just finishing now; I'll be out in a second."

The Doctor closed the communication channel and got ready to land the ship. Landings were always troublesome as you had to get them right; don't land on a cliff, don't land facing the wrong way, don't materialise inside a wall, all the usual bad things that could happen; so The Doctor had to be extremely careful.

As he began to land the ship; Laura walked into the console room. She was wearing a black tube top and black jeans finished with a leather bomber jacket and black combat boots; she wanted to tie her hair back into a pony tail but she couldn't find a hair band so she left it.

The Doctor pushed down a final lever; setting the T.A.R.D.I.S down with its usual wheeze. Its usual _Thunk_ filled the control room as the ship finally touched down. He turned his head to see the beautiful woman in her new attire; Laura was beautiful but he tried not to be distracted by it.

"We're here," he announced; bounding towards the doors. "Now be careful; The Master may look like your average man but he is a genius, possibly possessing a greater intelligence than myself, and he is incredibly dangerous."

"I know Doctor," she replied. "I do have access to all of the U.N.I.T files; I have read up on The Master. That's why I'm so ashamed at what happened."

"Good, good, then we can proceed," he opened the door and noticed a hand gun in Laura's jacket pocket; he ignored the firearm and exited his ship.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The T.A.R.D.I.S had landed inside a large laboratory complex; the walls and floors were white and grey and cleaned to perfection. The Doctor instantly noted that they were in a corridor which had many rooms spanning off it; some were actually working spaces while others were offices, kitchens and living spaces.

"Where are we?" Laura asked in a hushed voice.

"I do believe we are in a laboratory," the Time Lord replied. Slowly he began to stalk down the corridor. His eyes rapidly scanned the rooms either side of him when he noticed something on a white board. He grabbed Laura by the wrist and pulled her into the room before closing the door and locking it with the sonic screwdriver.

The lock clicked shut and The Doctor slipped the sonic device into his pocket. "What are you doing?" she asked as the Time Lord moved towards the white board where small notes had been written in clusters across it.

"I've come to read the stuff here," The Doctor told her. "There must be a reason why The Master came here…" He squinted at the words on the board. "God I need to get myself some glasses…"

Laura instantly noticed a pair of thick framed spectacles sitting on one of the desks; she plucked them up and held them up for him, "Here you go."

The Doctor turned to see the eye-glasses and smiled, "Thank you." He grabbed them and slipped them onto his face. The Time Lord knew he'd been long sighted for years but had just put it off and kept peering at things until they became clearer; but the stress of the Master's return left him with little time to just persevere; he needed to be able to see every detail written on the board.

He devoured the words and realised what the laboratory was doing; they were creating time travel. It was incredibly basic what they'd written but it made some sort of sense. The Time Lord turned around to a desk where there sat a pile of files and documents and began to sift through them.

They seemed to have found a piece of alien technology which they were still trying to unlock that they believe will grant them the ability to transcend time. That's when the horrifying thought came to The Doctor. He turned to the next page and saw a terrible picture; one that made him want to scream in anguish and horror.

The Time Lord immediately ran to the door, undid the lock with the sonic screwdriver and shoved the door wide open. Not caring who would hear him he sprinted off down the corridor.

Laura slowly walked to where The Doctor just stood and saw what lay on the page. Sitting on the page was a picture of a blue police phone box from London 1963. Laura turned and ran after the alien.

The Doctor sonic-ed another door and pushed it wide open to reveal a large room with computers lining the walls and cables trailing across the floor and ceiling; all heading towards a ruined old box in the centre of the room.

The breath moved from his lungs and he felt his legs shake as he stared at the box which seemed to have aged a great deal. He pulled off the spectacles and held them in his hand; constantly staring at box. Laura entered behind him and stared as The Doctor, a man who seemed so strong, nearly collapsed.

"Is…is that the T.A.R.D.I.S?" she asked as The Doctor made his way towards the broken ship.

"Yes," he said with barely a whisper. He placed his hand on the door which was slightly open due to the fact that wires trailed through the doorway and into the centre of the great machine. "This is the old girl."

"What happened?"

"I don't know," he replied. Gingerly, he put the glasses into his pocket and entered the vessel.

The usual bright lights of the ship had completely gone out. The interior was nearly pitch black apart from the lamps which the scientists, who were analysing the ship, had installed around the edges. The console wasn't the refined masterpiece it once was; parts had been torn out and metal had been charred and twisted. The time rotor was smashed and cracked with parts of it lying across the floor. The sight tore up both The Doctor's hearts as he entered; being careful not to trip over the cables that moved along the floor like plastic serpents.

Laura entered behind him and looked about the destroyed time machine. The T.A.R.D.I.S was The Doctor's home and he'd lived there for eons so the whole chaos filled space made his head pound. Even Laura, who'd only just been in the T.A.R.D.I.S, felt the great loss of the Time Lord.

"She's…she's dead," The Doctor whispered, barely able to speak a word.

"Doctor I'm sorry," Laura said as the alien leant against the destroyed console. "What could have done this?"

"I have no idea," he replied. His eyes then noticed a small device sitting on the top of the ruined console, "But I think we might find out."

The Doctor reached across to it with shaking hands and activated the device. It was a video projector, capable of storing years of video and then projecting it for all to see."

The projector buzzed and then suddenly a beam leapt out which transformed into the figure of the brand new Master; he looked unreal like a ghost. "Hello Doctor. I know you may be wondering how your petty T.A.R.D.I.S ended up like this…well I know how. This monstrosity is proof that my plan in the future comes true," The Master paused for dramatic affect. "You see this body has renewed me but I only have half of my regeneration cycle; I'm a filthy half breed, I'm part human. Now I need to rectify this mistake but becoming a full Time Lord. After that I will put my plan in motion to transcend from this body into a God where I will be able to ruin your life like you've ruined mine. Life is precious to me and you stole that so now I'm stealing your ship and later it's life. Speak soon old friend."

The message ended and The Doctor realised what The Master had said. Moving with desperation he sprinted out of the deceased vessel and out into the complex. He sprinted down a corridor, Laura following behind him, and making a sharp left until he arrived at the corridor where he parked his ship. Standing at the doors was the Master; with a final push he shoved the doors open and sneered at The Doctor.

"Don't move Master!" Laura shouted; running up behind The Doctor with the gun in her hands. "I will shoot you!"

"Don't bother child," he sneered. "I'm in control now and you can't stop me!" The Master disappeared into the box and shut the doors. The pair ran straight to the T.A.R.D.I.S and began to bang on the doors.

"Master let me in!" The Doctor bellowed; producing the sonic screwdriver from his pocket. "Please don't take her! She means everything to me!"

"Goodbye Doctor!" said The Master's cheerful voice as he projected himself through the speakers of the ship. "I would tell you my plan but that would be no fun."

The Doctor tried to use the sonic screwdriver on the lock but The Master had deadlocked the doors. He then tried it on the controls but it was useless. He couldn't stop him; he was helpless. The T.A.R.D.I.S engines begin to grind and moan, the wind whipped The Doctor's face and the lights flashed against his eyes.

The Master was escaping with The Doctor's T.A.R.D.I.S and there was nothing The Doctor could do about it. He was stranded.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

It had been half an hour since The Master had stolen the T.A.R.D.I.S and all The Doctor had done was sit in the dead shell of a Time Machine in total silence. Laura watched him as he stared at the destroyed console with a vacant expression; she was worried about him.

She finally broke the silence, "What are you going to do Doctor?"

"What am I going to do?" he laughed; his laugh turned to a sneer and that turned to hiss. "_What am I going to do?_" The Doctor jumped to his feet and stormed over to her. "What am _I_ going to do? After _you_ brought The Master back and started all of this! This is your fault that the T.A.R.D.I.S is dead!" He calmed down and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry…I'm just not used to feeling so helpless."

"I'm sorry," she said, taking his hand and stroking the back with her thumb. "But you're The Doctor. You're a genius; you always find a way out so where's that Doctor magic now?"

"It's dead," The Doctor told her. "It died with this old girl. With this old girl…."

That's when the idea came to him. He let go of Laura's smooth hands and turned to the console. With a grunt of effort he lifted the panel clean off and reached inside for the components.

"What are you doing?" she asked him as he pulled wires and components out of the console with vigour.

"Oh you'll see," he replied as he began to take all of the circuits, wires and parts of plastic he'd taken from the console and began to assemble them with a few blasts of the sonic. Laura watched as the man worked, putting on the stolen glasses at one point, fixing the almost random parts together to create a messy looking device with wires and different parts sticking out randomly.

The Doctor took the glasses off and stored them in his pocket before holding up the device with a hint of joy. "This my dear is a Time Machine," he paused. "Well it's more of a rough and basic time machine; it could damage us in the process of travel but it's the only choice we have left."

"Wait what?"

"This machine is rather basic but it should get us around."

"Before that."

"Oh it could damage us in the process of travel but we should be fine."

"Um…okay, so where are we going?"

"Well that's what I was thinking about," The Doctor replied with a cocky smile. "The Master is looking for a full regeneration cycle so he'll be looking for a long and forgotten order which can give him that power. They are known as the Sisters of Karn." He paused again as to find the coordinate input controls before punching in a long code in. "But the Sisterhood has been lost for years and to find their location I'd need the T.A.R.D.I.S which The Master has. So I'll have to do the next best thing; seek out one of the few people who could locate the Sisters for me."

"Who?"

"An old figure head of my race; Rassilon."

"Rassilon?"

"Yes, Rassilon," The Doctor replied; finishing off the coordinates. "He created most of the rules which my race lived by and created our entire civilisation. But he was mad and power hungry so they locked him away into a tomb. During the Time War he escaped and rose to power as the Lord President but after the war turned sour he was locked back into his tomb which was then moved off planet so as to keep him from returning as ruler of Galifrey." He paused. "Being what I thought was the last of my race; I sought out the coordinates of the Tomb so that I could keep it safe in incident of a threat. Now I need to return there and ask Rassilon for help."

"Wait you're going to ask a power hungry mad man for help?"

"Certainly," he grinned. "Now place your hand on my time machine and get ready to go."

"Is that an innuendo?"

"Of course not," The Doctor smirked; noticing her point. "Just do it."

Laura placed her hand on the unsafe device and The Doctor activated it. Their ears popped and they were blinded as they were sucked into the Time Vortex.

Travelling through the raw essence of time and space was amazing; it stimulated every sense possible in one almost orgasmic sensation. But soon after their bodies began to bend and twist through time causing agonising pain. Joy and Pain continually swapped over with each other over throughout their intergalactic journey.

* * *

_The Master pulled another lever on the ship's console with a smirk. He still hadn't put on a shirt to cover his perfectly toned body but he _had_ captured a T.A.R.D.I.S; so he didn't feel that much at loss._

_The Time Lord had noticed the ship's resistance but he wasn't called The Master for nothing; after a few tweaks, modifications, verbal curses and strikes against the machine, the T.A.R.D.I.S was working relatively close to perfect._

_Now he had a fully working T.A.R.D.I.S, The Master knew he was one step closer to his goal. His plan was simple and yet highly affective; there was no way he could possibly fail as he had already seen the outcome of his fiendish plot back at the laboratories where he left The Doctor stranded._

_He didn't know exactly what was to come but he did know three things. One, there would be death, Two, there will chaos and Three, The Doctor will return but The Master will be ready!_


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The Time Vortex opened up and spat the Time Lord and the Human soldier out onto the ground. They hit the stone flooring with a grunt and they laid still for a few seconds before getting up off the ground.

"This is the tomb?" she asked; looking up at the mighty structure.

"Yes," he told her, dusting himself off with his upper class manor. "This is the Tomb of Rassilon." The Doctor stuffed the rickety time device into his pocket and started to walk up towards the large temple to the old Time Lord.

The Tomb was a large tower with etchings and steps carved into the bricks; at the bottom sat a hefty looking wooden door. It was rather basic yet impressive in the interior but The Doctor knew the inside would be more intricate; hopefully without all the traps.

The Time Lord dressed in blue made his way towards the bottom and placed his hand on the wooden door, "Haven't been here in a while."

"Well let's go then," Laura smiled warmly.

The Doctor took a deep breath before turning the old fashioned handle and opening the door. The door creaked on its hinges as the light flooded into the dark room. The space inside was completely void of light and terribly cold but then an immortal who was being held in an endless sleep didn't need heat or light so why have it.

"Got a torch?" he asked the female warrior as he began to close the door behind him.

Instead of a verbal reply, a click sounded and a beam of bright white light sliced through the dark and hit the opposite brick wall. Laura began to aim her torch around the room and she began to see tables and tapestries and cutlery and candle stands; if she could see the room it would have been something of great beauty.

"I thought this was a tomb?" she asked The Doctor.

"It is," The Doctor replied as he noticed a staircase in the dark. "Just a very well decorated one."

Laura shone her torch on the stair case and followed the Time Lord up the steps. Their footfalls resounded throughout the building as they climbed the structure. "Should we be here?" Laura asked as they arrived at the next level and kept going up the steps.

"Yes and no," he paused as they kept climbing the steps. "I'm allowed to be here but Rassilon might not like it."

They climbed up another level and arrived at the top of the tower. The Doctor felt around on the wall and found a panel of switches; he flicked them all on and lights suspended above them began to blink into life.

Laura turned off her torch and battered her eye lids until normality returned to her eyesight. The chamber where Rassilon lay was large and grand with computers lining the back wall, stone columns with inscriptions lay in the centre and at the back was a stone bed where the ex-Lord President lay in his slumber.

"That's Rassilon?" Laura asked; clearly surprised at the middle aged looking man who lay on the bed.

"Yes it is," The Doctor produced his blue tipped sonic screwdriver. "Now stand back; we don't want to be in reaching distance when he awakes." Laura stood behind the Time Lord as he activated the sonic device and sent waves at the sleeping Time Lord.

The sonic sound waves struck Rassilon and slowly he began to awake. With a disgruntled groan he sat up and turned his head to see The Doctor storing his sonic device away. "Why have you disturbed my sleep Lord Doctor?" the powerful alien asked; his voice booming and filling up the entire room.

"Oh so you know who I am then," The Doctor smiled; his eyes wandered to the power gauntlet that lay on Rassilon's hand, while he had that and his unruly temper The Doctor had to tread carefully.

"How could I not know who you are Doctor?" he asked. "You may have different bodies but you all share the same traits. You dress in strange clothing, much different from the rest of our race, and you have an air of arrogance and self-importance about you which never seems to fade; although some incarnations have covered it up better than others, this is one clearly is one of your better attempts. Who is the human girl behind you? One of your strays?"

The Doctor pushed the comment aside and gave Laura a look which told her not to react; if she did Rassilon could possibly kill her. "This is Colonel Laura Pullman of the Earth military division known as U.N.I.T."

"A soldier?" Rassilon smiled. "Finally a companion with a use Doctor; maybe you are growing wiser in age."

Once again The Doctor ignored his superior's unintentional insult and said, "Anyway Lord Rassilon; I require your assistance."

"Assistance?" Lord Rassilon asked. "Why should I help you Lord Doctor?"

"Because the universe is in great danger," The Doctor replied. "The Master is back."

"Lord Master?" Rassilon asked. "But he died in the Time War after you sent us both back to Galifrey." Rassilon thought for moment. "I don't see why I should help you after the betrayal you made by sending me back into the Time War."

"I didn't have a choice Lord Rassilon," The Doctor sighed; remembering the day when he regenerated from his 10th to 11th incarnation. "You know what The Master can do and what he has done in the past; this time he's out for blood and he's using my T.A.R.D.I.S to do it. He's toying with me Rassilon and I need you to help me stop him before he does some serious damage."

Rassilon thought for another moment. "What would you need me to do Lord Doctor?" The ancient Time Lord made his way towards him; his long cloak flowing behind him, his staff in one hand and a gauntlet on the other; he looked ready for battle.

"I need some information on the Sisters of Karn," The Doctor replied.

"Why?" Rassilon was taller than The Doctor and looked down at him as he spoke.

"Because The Master is half human and he's looking for a way to become a full Time Lord again," The Doctor explained. "He is searching for the Sisterhood to give him the elixir which will grant him this. Since I have no T.A.R.D.I.S I can't find their location but I was hoping you could."

"You want me to find the Sisters of Karn?" Rassilon scoffed. "I can tell you the exact coordinates."

"How?" Laura asked.

"Time Lord have much superior brains to you humans," Rassilon told her. "We can remember much more than you can."

"The code?" The Doctor asked; cutting the friction between the pair short.

"Ah yes," Rassilon replied. "40-60-ZQRT-234-9JO."

The Doctor memorised the coordinates while Rassilon spoke again, "While I have been sleeping Lord Doctor, my mind has explored the universe and I know that the Sisters are running out of ingredients for their potions and will most likely send The Master on a scavenger hunt around the universe of the items."

"What are these items?" The Doctor asked.

"Going by the description of what The Master intends from the elixir they will send him to look for a large dose Zanio Acid and Krptoi Alkali, a vial of Hytima Wolf's blood and the crystal of Krio which was worn by the planet's ruler for centuries," Rassilon listed off the items with ease.

"But the Master has a time machine," Laura interjected. "He can get the acids and alkalis and blood from anywhere in time and space!"

"Then we will go for the option that we can win on," The Doctor told her. "We will head for the planet Krio where we will retrieve the crystal before it is worn by the planet's ruler and wait for The Master to come to us."

"Wise strategy Lord Doctor," Rassilon said before turning back towards his stone bed. "I wish you the best in your endeavours."

"Thank you Lord Rassilon," The Doctor said, bowing slightly.

"But next time Lord Doctor," Rassilon sat down on his bed. "When we meet again and the circumstances aren't so grave; I will kill you for your betrayal back on Earth."

"I know," The Doctor sighed; bowing and walking out of the chamber.

Lord Rassilon lay down on his bed and closed his eyes, "Please turn off the lights as you leave Lord Doctor."

"Will do," The Doctor replied as he flicked the switches down and exited the large resting chamber. As soon as they were down a flight of stairs, The Doctor began to input the coordinates for their destination, "Come on let's go before he tears my two hearts out!"


	8. Chapter 9

Chapter Seven

_The Sisters were reluctant to aid The Master but after some hypnotic persuasion they gave in. He had already collected the Zanio Acid and Krptio Alkali and now he was on his way to collecting his favourite item on the list; a vial of Hyptima Wolf's blood which was going to involve killing, his favourite past time._

_The Master landed the T.A.R.D.I.S and stepped outside clutching a quadruple enfolded plasma and laser cannon which he'd found in the bowels of The Doctor's ship; it seemed his enemy did own at least one weapon._

_The Time Lord exited the vessel and made his way out into the purple tree covered forest; the Hyptima Wolf was incredibly rare and a formidable predator but nothing The Master couldn't handle._

_He walked out stealthily across the grassland; holding his firearm gently with his finger itching on the trigger. The Master's first kills were soldiers, then he killed a stranger for his shirt, then he killed the scientists who wouldn't give him the acids and alkalis and now he was going to kill a mighty beast._

_The Master liked killing. Killing was his life; that and his obsession for world domination and The Doctor. He liked to have the power to take lives; it was possibly one of the most intimate moments two people could have, after all he would be the last face they saw before… nothing._

_The Time Lord made his way over the tree trunk and heard the sound of heavy breathing; it had to be his target. He spun around and fired a single attack which struck a tree. He fired again and this time he heard the sound of life leaving something._

_A wolf with purple fur and bright red eyes collapsed to the ground; dead. The Master chuckled and slowly walked towards it. He'd killed the creature and now all he needed to do was extract the blood; it was incredibly easy. _

_His whole plan was coming along quite nicely. After capturing the crystal he would able to restore his lives and carry out his mission to become a true God! It was all falling into place now and he was near the end. The Doctor would pay; finally The Master would have the last laugh!_

* * *

The Doctor and Laura were spat out of the Time Vortex once more and they all landed inside a glacier. Laura instantly hugged herself against the cold but The Doctor didn't seem to be fazed by the temperature in the slightest.

"Where are we?" she asked; her breath turning into a cloud.

"The ice glaciers of Krio," The Doctor replied. "You see the reason the crystal is so  
special for the Sister's elixir is that it was originally found inside a chunk of ice; which as you know shouldn't occur naturally. Therefore it had been placed there or force grown within the ice. Now I intend to simply remove the crystal before it is discovered by the people of Krio and take it with us; that way I don't damage time in anyway and can still keep the crystal."

The Doctor forged ahead and made his way towards a glass wall. Laura followed behind him and watched as the Time Lord wiped his jacket sleeve against the ice to see what lay behind. The crystal, imbedded deep into the ice, brightened and dulled rhythmically.

"How do we get to it?" Laura asked. "Have you got a blow torch?"

"No," The Doctor smirked. "I could try and use the sonic screwdriver to vibrate the molecules of the ice and force them to melt but I could end up shattering the crystal…I really didn't think this through."

"I have an idea," Laura smirked; producing her clunky hand gun.

The Doctor saw the weapon, "No you can't it's much too dangerous!"

"What else have we got?" Laura asked; knowing that The Doctor had no other plan. After a moment of silence she smiled, "Good now give me a second."

Laura had plenty of experience handling a plethora of weapons; mostly Earth made but some extra-terrestrial. She'd been in the military for years and had risen up the ranks rapidly until she was head of U.N.I.T. Some people may have been nervous to attempt such a shot but Laura was confident that she could do it; she knew she could.

The Colonel aimed her weapon at the ice, looked down the sight, held her breath for a moment and fired. The bullet sliced through the air and struck the ice; cracking it completely. It barrelled its way through the solid and stopped just off the crystal.

The spider web crack that covered the top layer of ice looked like it had been hand chiselled but the long tube that ran through the centre gave its actual creation away.

"Now what?" Laura asked, realising that all she'd done was create a single hole through the ice.

The Doctor produced his sonic screwdriver and extended it to reveal the glass neck of the device before aiming it at the ice, "You've made the first incision and now I'm going to finish the job." He activated the device and the ice began to shake.

The molecules began to shift and shake until the bonds were broken and the ice became a liquid. Water trickled down the sides and onto the floor as The Doctor kept pointing the sonic at the ice wall. The ice melted away until The Doctor was in arms reach of the glowing red crystal.

The Time Lord reached inside and yanked the crystal clean from the ice with a smile. "We've got it," he told her as he moved the refined crystal about in his hand; it had been cut to the same shape that an Earth diamond would have been which seemed bizarre to the Time Lord. "Someone must have placed this here while the ice was forming…and I think I know who it was."

"Who?" she asked; pocketing her hand gun.

"Well who else do you know that has a time machine and can go anywhere in time and space?" he asked. He started to walk away from the wall with Laura by his side.

"Well you normally but…wait; it's you, you put the crystal there!"

"Well I haven't yet but it looks like I will put a crystal in the ice," The Doctor replied. "And now I've thought it, I have to do it to keep the time line in perfect order."

The pair started to walk away from the ice wall as The Doctor placed the crystal in his jacket and withdrew his self-made time machine.

"So where to now?" Laura asked the Time Lord.

"We have the crystal and all we need to do now is contact The Master and arrange a meeting point where we can stop him."

"_Oh I don't think so Doctor_," echoed a voice down the icy cavern.


	9. Chapter 10

Chapter Eight

The Doctor spun around to the other side of the glacier while Laura whipped out her hand gun which she then cocked and aimed at the head of the anonymous voice. The Master stood in front of them dressed in a black jacket, t-shirt and trousers, the trousers that Louis had worn in the experiment before The Master stole his body, finished off with expensive looking leather shoes.

"You're far too predictable Doctor," The Master smirked. "I knew you'd pull a stunt like this so I decided to wait for you and I'm glad I did."

"You may have a new body Master but you still have the same sneer," The Doctor remarked.

"Oh now, now, Doctor; there's no need for petty insults," The Master replied. "All I want is the crystal and we can leave in peace."

"What so you can become full Time Lord again!" Laura snapped.

"I see no obstruction in wanting to be the race I truly am and not a half breed."

"It's what comes next scares us," Laura replied; still aiming her gun at The Master.

"Oh you should be," The Master sneered. "You see, I'm not a nice man and I hold grudges. I particularly dislike people that aim weapons at me. You my dear are in for a treat." He then paused to think. "Actually, Colonel Pullman, since you are part of my resurrection I will make your punishment less severe; if you lower the weapon now!

"Fat chance mate," Laura steadied her aim at the enemy Time Lord.

"Oh well," The Master sighed. He reached into his jacket and produced a small tube like device which he extended and held out. The Doctor recognised it as the Laser Screwdriver; a parallel to The Doctor's own. A beam leapt from the device and struck Laura's firearm, knocking it from her grasp and sending it smouldering to the floor.

Laura clutched her hand; the weapon had heated up rapidly upon contact with the beam so she had been burnt. She hissed in pain and cradled her hand.

"Don't worry it will only hurt for a bit," The Doctor told her before glaring at The Master. "You still have that thing then?"

"Yes I do Doctor, you can carry your petty sonic probe but I prefer something with a bit of a bite," The Master laughed again; even his voice sounded evil. "I built it out parts I found in your T.A.R.D.I.S along with other weapons you tried to hide in the bowels of the ship; does someone have a guilty conscience?"

"I admit my past is murky but I have nothing to hide," The Doctor told his old friend.

The Master laughed, "And they call me a liar! Doctor you have masked yourself so much so that I can barely say you were the boy I once knew back on Galifrey!"

"You knew this freak!" Laura hissed.

"Less of the freak please!" The Master retorted, raising his laser screwdriver to make a point. "And yes I knew The Doctor when we were children, ah those were the days."

"If I knew it would all lead to this then I would never have spoken to you," The Doctor snapped.

"Oh don't lie Doctor," The Master smirked. "We had to be friends Doctor, don't you see. We are two halves of a puzzle; we complete each other. I bring out the best in you and you bring out the worst in me! What would you be without me?"

The Doctor paused, "I honestly have no idea. But I knew that I wouldn't end up like you."

"Oh Doctor I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree."

The Doctor changed the topic of conversation, "What do you want Master."

"You know what I want Doctor," the enemy Time Lord replied. "I want the crystal to complete the elixir and regain my full regeneration cycle!"

"No, I mean after that, what will you do after you have all your lives back?"

"Oh that's a secret."

"Well I obviously can't stop you so why don't you tell me?"

The Master was a show off, an egomaniac and a psychopath but even he wouldn't rise to that. "I won't tell you Doctor but you know what they see, keep them wanting more; so I'll drop a few hints. It involves time, your T.A.R.D.I.S and becoming God." The Master aimed his laser device at The Doctor. "Now hand the crystal over Doctor before I shoot!"

Slowly The Doctor held the crystal in his hand and moved it between his fingers. He then produced his time travel device and placed the crystal on top of it. "How about no." With a press of a button; the time device and the crystal disappeared into the vortex.

"Nice try Doctor, but I have a few more uses for the screwdriver in this new model," The Master pressed a button on the screwdriver and the golden tip glowed. A whine, similar to the sonic screwdriver, filled the glacier and spread out across the universe.

The time vortex opened up and spat out the time device and the crystal back into The Doctor's hands. "Now hand it over Doctor!" The Master snapped. "I don't have time for your juvenile tricks."

"Just do it Doctor," Laura said, placing a hand on The Doctor's shoulder.

The situation was hopeless. The Doctor had no T.A.R.D.I.S and he had no weapons to defend himself with; what else could he possibly do? Reluctantly, The Doctor handed over the glimmering crystal to his opponent.

"Good Doctor," The Master stared at the crystal before pocketing it. "I'll let you keep that piece of garbage which you consider a time machine as you can't stop me now." The Master turned and started to walk away. "Goodbye Doctor and stay out of my way."

The Time Lord wandered off, deeper into the glacier and towards his stolen ship.

"Shall we go after him?" Laura asked, picking up her gun which seemed to be in working order.

"No, there's no point," The Doctor told her. "We can't stop him now."

"What do you mean?"

"All I can do is follow him to the Sisters of Karn but what then, stop him from drinking the chemical? After that he's putting a plan into action which I'm clueless about…" He didn't finish the sentence.

"What?"

"He said my T.A.R.D.I.S," The Time Lord began to punch in coordinates. "Well whatever he's done must leave some sort of clue so…" he finished the code and got ready to teleport. "With any luck we should be able to go back to the destroyed T.A.R.D.I.S, find out what's he's planning…or from that point, what he's done already and put a stop to it; this could create a paradox and reset the whole event; no dead T.A.R.D.I.S and no Master."

"And we'll never have met…"

"I'm sorry about that my dear but I think saving the universe takes priority of personal relationships and besides; you're head of U.N.I.T, I'm sure we'll meet again."

The Doctor touched Laura's shoulder and activated the time machine. The Vortex sucked them in and sent them like a rocket across the universe.

* * *

_The Doctor's T.A.R.D.I.S wheezed and groaned as it moved down the Time Vortex. The Master had assembled all the ingredients he required for the Elixir along the console. It almost seemed a shame to know that later the ship would soon be torn apart; it felt like destroying an antique, well the T.A.R.D.I.S was one back on Galifrey, even though it felt wrong he was going to do it anyway._

_The Master pushed down another control as he neared his destination. With help from the Sisters he would become a Time Lord once more and he could then put his full plan into action; for it to work perfectly he would need all his lives, without every regeneration in his cell ready to work then he would die and The Doctor would win._

_But not this time, this time the bad guy was going to win, this time The Master was going to be the one with crown and the medal and this time he was ready for the applause which he deserved!_


	10. Chapter 11

Chapter Nine

The Doctor and Laura staggered out of the Time Vortex and into the T.A.R.D.I.S console room. The Time Lord had programmed it so they arrived just after their past selves had left; luckily none of the scientists had come back to the ship yet so they were alone.

The Doctor, wearing the stolen glasses from earlier, studied the console; checking for clues to what The Master was planning. Laura watched as the Time Lord rose from the console; sighing and stroking his beard.

"Something's not right…"

"What's wrong Doctor?" Laura asked the Time Lord.

"Nothing important," The Doctor replied. "It's just that I can't find anything on the console…well what's left of it."

"What if the problem didn't originate from the console?"

"That's what I was thinking but there are very few places in the ship that this sort of thing could have happened."

"Well where are they?"

"Well there's the secondary console room, the eye of harmony…the eye of harmony; the eye of harmony that's it!"

"The eye of what?"

"The Eye of Harmony," The Doctor replied, whipping off his thick framed glasses; they reminded him of the ones he donned in his Tenth Incarnation. "It's how the T.A.R.D.I.S draws its power. I think The Master has used my T.A.R.D.I.S' Eye of Harmony to do something to himself...I have no idea what, but I think investigating it should wrap this mystery right up!"

"Well let's go then," she smiled. The two of them ran across the console room, being careful of the thick cables which trailed along the floor, and towards the first corridor which led off to the labyrinth that was the T.A.R.D.I.S.

The Doctor led the way down the twisting and winding corridors and towards the Eye. He wished at that moment he had kept the same desktop theme as his Eight Incarnation; that way he could walk straight towards the eye of harmony and forgo all the running.

They finally arrived at a huge set of old fashioned doors. With a shove; The Doctor pushed them open and stepped inside the large room. It was rather gothic with stone steps leading up to another level which then went into another part of the ship while in the centre was the large dome which covered the eye but it seemed a lot dirtier and less bright than last time; the room felt dead.

"Is this it?" Laura enquired; sounding a little bit disappointed.

"Yes it is," The Doctor replied; walking towards the large dome structure. His eyes scanned the area; he didn't need ocular aids to see that the Eye had been used for a disastrous purpose.

Laura couldn't see what had gone on but The Doctor knew perfectly well what he'd done and it scared him. "The Master's an idiot!" he shouted. "A genius idiot!"

"Why?"

"Because I know what he's been trying to do!" The Doctor said. "I know what he's been planning."

* * *

_The Master buzzed with energy as he entered the T.A.R.D.I.S, his clothes were stained with crimson blood, with a chalice filled with the Elixir in one hand. The Master had killed the Sister's after finding out their recipe; now he knew how to recreate the potion he didn't need their help any more._

_After slaughtering them with a single knife, his preferred method of brutal murder, they had lying around; The Master had left to consume the drink inside the T.A.R.D.I.S._

_The golden cup felt cold in his hands as the steam rose from the surface of the liquid. He slowly raised the container to his lips and took a sip. It tasted bitter and zesty but he kept on drinking; glugging down the chemical until he had completely finished it._

_The Master gagged and dropped the cup, feeling the energy building up inside him, and staggered into the wall. He coughed repeatedly as the regeneration energy moved about on his skin and began to increase. _

_He began to feel hot until suddenly he pushed out his arms and felt the light pour off him like a sparkler. It kept going and going until the sensation stopped and The Master collapsed to the floor with a headache and a cold sweat. He panted and began to smile. _

_He was a Time Lord again! _

_Slowly he rose to his feet and looked about the console room; it looked too clean, he had to destroy the ship and send it to Earth but not yet. He was going to kill the last T.A.R.D.I.S slowly in the most painful way possible since he wouldn't need it anymore after his plan was complete. The Time Lord needed to move fast; the more active the cells were the better!_

_He'd formulated the plan quite quickly after his escape; after being sent back into the Time War and killed, he began to think about God-hood and the power that Rassilon wielded. The Master wanted to steal Rassilon's power glove and use it for his own purposes but he knew he couldn't; so he speculated in his final moments what was more powerful. Then it came to him; the Time Vortex and more specifically the power source of Galifrey and all of the T.A.R.D.I.S' the Eye of Harmony. When one absorbed the power of the Time Vortex they became a God before dying in agony. _

_But then The Master realised the truth. They were swallowed up by the raging energy but what if the person had enough energy within in them to balance the equation and keep what, would have been, a war within a person at bay? The answer to this great problem was regeneration. _

_After regenerating a Time Lord's body was raging with cells for the next few hours; so all The Master had to do was regenerate and absorb the Time Vortex but that wasn't enough; he'd need more than one regeneration he would need __**all**__ of them! The Master had to use up all his regeneration cells in a last ditch attempt to claim his place as ruler of the universe!_

_The Master arrived at the Eye of Harmony; buzzing with energy, ready to start the process that would change his life forever._


	11. Chapter 12

Chapter Ten

"Don't you see," The Doctor grinned, finishing his explanation. "He's going to burn out all of his regenerations in exchange for the ability to absorb the Time Vortex; he'll become God!"

"So how do we stop him?" Laura asked.

"I'm not sure," The Doctor replied; he began to stroke his beard. His mind began to whirr and then he smiled. "I have an idea but this old girl's not going to like it…"

"What's the idea?"

The Doctor punched in a code, "A couple of weeks ago I lowered the shields to do some repairs on the T.A.R.D.I.S; I'm going to travel back to that point and blow her up."

"But wouldn't you kill yourself and the T.A.R.D.I.S and me?" she asked; slightly scared.

"Hopefully it should just reset the universe and I'll arrive back in the T.A.R.D.I.S," The Doctor told her as finished inputting their destination. Laura raised an eyebrow at him. "Well I have no other choice, now just trust me."

The Doctor pressed the button to send them off but the clunky device just sat in his hands like a lump of poorly crafted modern art. "This is a really bad time to run out of power."

"Um Doctor you should turn around," Laura muttered.

The Time Lord turned to see a glowing figure hovering in mid-air; it looked humanoid but he didn't recognise it. Golden light poured off of the creature and dissipated into the air. The Doctor then recognised it, "Master?"

"Hello Doctor," the golden glowing Master said; he sounded as if he had more than one voice talking in unison.

"So you did it then?" Laura asked, watching as The Master descended towards the floor.

"Yes human, I absorbed the Time Vortex and drained the T.A.R.D.I.S of its energy," The Master replied. "My new form and this husk of a Capsule Type TT 40 is proof of that."

"So what now Master?" The Doctor asked, scanning his new form with a wary gaze.

The Golden Master chuckled, "Oh many things Doctor but first you will do something for me."

"And what's that?" The Doctor asked, holding back a smirk.

"Rassilon's tomb has a shield which is blocking me from entering, you, Doctor will deactivate it for me so I can enter, kill the old fool and take his gauntlet," The Master replied. "Once I have that gauntlet I will all powerful! The Universe will be mine!"

"And what if I don't?" The Doctor questioned.

"I will torture you into submission."

"Good, nice to know what the options are," The Doctor replied. He produced the time device and punched into the coordinates.

"What are you doing?" Laura asked as The Doctor prepared to activate the technology.

"Doing as The Master says, what other options do I have?" The Doctor replied.

"You're not serious, are you?"

"I'm afraid I am my dear," The Doctor told her. "Now come on, before he kills us both." He turned his back to The Master slightly and winked at her; he had a plan.

"Actually no Doctor," The Master replied. He held out his hand suddenly Laura was lifted into the air and pulled towards the glowing creature. "Your companion will stay with me until you take down the barrier; just as a precaution."

"Of course," The Doctor replied. "Don't worry Laura, you'll be fine."

The Time Vortex appeared and sucked the Time Lord in and he disappeared. Laura turned her head to look at The Master; most people would have panicked but she had been trained to keep cool and have a level head so instead she decided to ask questions.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, noticing that The Master's facial features were barely visible.

"It is not for humans like you to understand!" he snapped back at her; clearly he was focusing on something else. The Master could see across the universe but he couldn't see into Rassilon's tomb and it irritated him because he had no idea what The Doctor could be doing, he was never known for doing as The Master instructed so he was slightly wary.

"Well why not?" she enquired. "I have a mind too."

"Yes a puny human one," he replied. "Nothing like my superior Time Lord biology."

She went to speak again but The Master held up his glowing hand, "He's done it; the barrier is lowered. Without any warning, a golden light enveloped them and they were transported into the Tomb.

* * *

Laura rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the massive change in light while The Master watched as The Doctor walked away from the computer banks in the corner and smiled, "All done."

"Good Doctor," The Master smiled with a barely visible mouth. "Now stand over there with your companion while I kill this pathetic waste of immortality."

The Master floated towards the body that lay on the stone block. He watched as Rassilon's chest rose and fell before reaching towards his Gauntlet of Power. As The Master reached down, Rassilon rose off the ground and glared at him.

"How dare you enter my chambers!" he growled but as he held up his hand to activate his power gauntlet; he noticed he had an empty hand. "_What?_"

The Master chuckled as he held up The Master's metal glove of power, "Time to die old man!" The glowing god held out his hand and splayed his fingers; Rassilon's skin began to glow, he slowly shrunk inwards and then imploded into tiny golden sparkles which moved into the air and disappeared; only his Galifreyian robes were left behind.

The Master chuckled, his chuckle turned into a laugh and then into the one that sounded like he'd ripped it out of a Vampire movie. He laughed and howled with enjoyment before looking at the old robes of the dead Time Lord and sneering. With a blink the clothes were upon The Master's body and he was dressed in the robes of Lord President.

"What do you think Doctor?" he asked as he floated towards The Doctor and his companion. "Do I look the part?"

"If you're going for the murdering psychopath look then definitely," The Doctor replied. Suddenly The Master held out his hand and an aura appeared around the Time Lord; he winced and thrashed about.

"I'd watch your tongue Doctor!" The Master hissed as he increased the rate of agony he was receiving.

"Stop you're hurting him!" Laura shouted as The Master kept torturing his 'old friend'. Acting upon instinct, Laura produced her hand gun and fired at the glowing figure.

The bullet hit The Master and made a ripple effect across his body before disappearing. The Master didn't feel any pain but it was still an annoyance. He stopped his torture on The Doctor, letting him fall to the ground with a groan before reeling back his head and spitting out the lead bullet, it sliced through the air and struck Laura in the shoulder; nowhere lethal but enough to stop her from attacking him again. The Doctor slowly crawled towards her as she fell to her knees and clasped the wound.

"How dare you filthy animal!" he bellowed. He twisted his hand and the gun flew over to him and landed softly in his palm. He looked at the basic weapon before curling his finger and bending the metal. He crushed the gun into a ball and threw it onto the ground.

"Your pet has spirit Doctor," he smirked; calming down. "Spirit, not quite bravery or intelligence but spirit all the same."

The Doctor applied pressure onto the wound before turning his head, "Help her please; if you don't she'll bleed out and die!"

"And why should I care?"

"Because I'm asking you nicely."

"How about…no?"

The Doctor didn't want to argue as he saw Laura start to go pale. "Laura," he said, trying to get her attention. He yanked her leather jacket off; luckily she was wearing a tube top so he didn't have to remove any more clothing. "Laura, I'm going to have to remove the bullet…you know this is going to hurt don't you?"

Before she could reply, The Doctor reached into the wound with two fingers and moved them about inside. Laura cried and writhed in agony but the Time Lord kept moving about until he found the piece of lead lodged inside her and began to try and get a grip on it. The slug was slippery with all the blood covering it but he managed to get a hold of it and then yanked it clean out.

Laura let out a sigh of relief as The Doctor tossed the bullet over his shoulder and looked about for something to cauterise the wound of with. The Master watched as The Doctor ran over to a computer and smashed it open before ripping a metal panel off it. The Time Lord then slipped off his tuxedo jacket, producing his sonic screwdriver, and used it to hold the metal. Using the sonic device, he vibrated the metal's molecules to heat it up before pressing the alloy against her skin.

The Master found it strange how rapidly the man worked to save one petty human but then The Doctor always did love the lesser species of the universe. The Time Lord cauterised the wound and then proceeded to tear the sleeve off his _own_ jacket and wrap it around her injury. He tightened it and took a deep breath; she should be fine… for now.

"That was…amusing Doctor," The Master said.

"What was amusing about that?" The Doctor shouted. "You almost killed her!"

"What does it matter?"

"_What does it matter? __**What does it matter?**_" The Doctor screamed, raising his voice. "She's a person Master, she has a mind and a soul and she has a life! You may not find life sacred but _I do!_"

"I told you to watch your tongue," The Master sneered, holding out his hand and inflicting pain upon to him. After a few minutes he stopped. "You think that was bad, oh no Doctor, see now I have all this power I'm going to take over the universe but in the time between I will be torturing you and your friend here!_ Life for you Doctor is going to be hell!_"


	12. Chapter 13

Chapter Eleven

Laura guessed it had been a few days since The Master had sucked the life out of The Doctor's T.A.R.D.I.S and become a deity; but she couldn't really tell as she'd been drifting in and out of consciousness but what she did know was that she with The Doctor; who was looking more and more rough every day.

Finally she sat up to see The Time Lord staggering into what looked like their prison cell with his clothes torn to shreds, his hair tousled, his skin sliced and covered in a layer of sweat. He collapsed onto the bed and lay there for a few minutes before rolling over to face her.

"Hello," The Doctor smiled weakly. "Nice to see you're backing in the land of the living."

"What?"

"You died, twice, but I manage to get you back to life," The Doctor replied. "You did scare me a few times."

"Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm fine."

Laura got up from her bed, her shoulder was stiff and aching, and sat next to the Time Lord; noticing that the cuts all over his body were fresh. "But your bleeding; _everywhere_."

"Oh it's nothing I can't handle," The Doctor replied, groaning as he sat up. "The Master's made sure of that; he doesn't want to kill me or make me regenerate just yet, he wants to savour the moment."

"He's been torturing you!"

"Yes," The Time Lord breathed. "He's been torturing me five times a day; even while conquering the universe he can travel through time so when he wants, he comes back here and gives me a beating before having his men throw me back into the cell. It's been quite painful."

"And you haven't stopped him?"

"Well what am I meant to do?" The Doctor asked. "My T.A.R.D.I.S is dead and The Master has control over all time and space; I don't even have my sonic screwdriver!"

"So you're giving up?"

"No I'm temporarily surrendering."

"That's just a different way of saying giving up."

"No it's not," The Doctor sniggered; clearly finding it funny.

"I'm not debating over the proper use of words Doctor," Laura snapped, not in the mood for joking. "We're trapped in a prison cell with no way out. We need to make a plan."

"I have a plan."

"And that is?"

"To escape."

"And how are we going to do that?" Laura wanted to slap him.

"Well their tactic is to keep me worn down so that I can't rebel against them but you haven't been tortured yet so my plan is based on your recovery."

"What? That's a stupid idea; what if I hadn't healed?"

"Then I'd come up with a new plan."

"So anyway, what is this plan?"

He began to explain.

* * *

The cell door opened and an armed guard entered, he was dressed in black armour and a visor covered his entire face. "Doctor, come with us," his voice was loud even if the visor was covering his entire face. The Doctor simply laid there. "_Doctor?_"

"He's too tired," Laura said. "But I'll go with you."

"That's not normal but I suppose The Master will want someone to torture," the guard replied. "Come with me."

Laura rose from the bed and exited the cell with the guard. The corridors were like the cell she was trapped in apart from the concrete walls had lights imbedded in them and had windows so that they could see outside; they were in space!

Laura tried not to get distracted by the exterior of where she was and stuck to the plan; distract the guards. It was how The Doctor had described; one guard would escort her to the torture chamber but they were never going to get that far.

"So do you have a girlfriend?" she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder while making her bra strap more visible.

The guard tried not to look at her, "I shouldn't be talking to you but…no."

She then pushed him up against the wall and bit her lower lip, "Do you want one."

The guard supressed a nervous giggle but before he could make his reply, Laura kneed him in the groin and grabbed him by the arm. She swung it behind his back and snapped the limb at the shoulder; the guard's cry was muffled by his helmet.

She wasted no time in snatching up his firearm and walking away from the whimpering man. Laura found it funny how easily men were distracted by women; they made it too easy for them.

The Doctor had said distract the guard, but she doubted that he expect what she'd just pulled on the guard, and then head down a corridor, take a left, take a right and then arrive at a large metal door; which she did.

Laura found the door and took a stable stance before firing the futuristic weapon. Blasts flew into the metal slab and sliced through the metal; leaving it red hot. She took out the hefty lock with the weapon and kicked. The door flew open and she walked inside a large chamber which was filled with confiscated items.

Laura wasn't sure how The Doctor knew where the room was since the torture chamber was nowhere near here but at that moment she didn't care. She moved through the shelves and tables and kept moving until she found a large glass case.

It was a shrine; a shrine to The Doctor, The Master's fallen enemy, or so he thought. In the centre of the glass case was the battered old T.A.R.D.I.S, on a glass podium in front of that sat the oddly shaped T.A.R.D.I.S key, to the right of the phone box was The Doctor's torn blue jacket, thick framed glasses, bow tie and to the left of that was his small, blue tipped, sonic screwdriver, small touch screen scanner and the rickety hand held time machine he'd built. It was a beautiful tribute to the Time Lord, clearly The Master had put thought into this, it almost seemed a shame to break it; but that wasn't going to stop her.

Using the butt of the weapon, she reeled back and shattered the case. She kept smashing until there was nothing she could cut herself on before taking things out. She grabbed the sonic screwdriver, the scanner, the time machine, the T.A.R.D.I.S key, the glasses and the bowtie; stuffing them into her trouser pockets. "We'll be back for you," she said; turning around and running off back to the cell.

* * *

The Doctor instantly sat up as the door began to open. Laura entered the room and smiled before closing it behind her. "Did you get them?" he asked, getting up off the bed.

"Sure did," she replied, removing the items from her pockets and laying them out on the bed. "He built a glass shrine to you, you know."

The Doctor sniggered, "Really?"

"Yeah," Laura laughed. "The T.A.R.D.I.S was there as well but I couldn't carry that."

"I wouldn't want you to," he replied as he collected up his items. "You got the bow tie too!"

"Yeah you're jacket was there but it was all torn up," Laura explained. "Are you leaving the T.A.R.D.I.S there?"

"For now, yes," he replied, adjusting his bowtie over his shredded shirt. "Until I can bring it back to life it'll stay there…although I'm confused on how it got there from the labs."

"He probably moved it back here after a while, just to gloat."

"That does sound like The Master," The Doctor smirked as typed a code into the hand held time machine. "Now we'd better get out of here before he notices we're gone and starts scouring the universe for us."

"Where are we going?" she asked, placing her hand onto the device.

"To Rassilon's hiding place," he replied as the Vortex opened up and sucked them in.


	13. Chapter 14

Chapter Twelve

"What?" she asked as the vortex spat them out. "I thought The Master killed Rassilon."

"No of course not," The Doctor replied. "The Master just believed he had."

"What so it was a trick?" Laura asked as she looked around their new location. They stood outside what looked like a Roman Temple; that's when she looked around saw that it was Rome! "Where are we?"

"Rome, Italy," he replied as he began to walk up the marble steps. "Rassilon did see himself as a deity and back in this period he would have been worshipped as one; a god on earth."

The pair jogged into the temple passing Roman Centurions, they brought back some of The Doctor's old memories, and priests until the found their way to the back of the temple where they saw a priest, dressed in an itchy looking brown robe, standing in front of a pair of wooden doors.

"_I'm sorry my friends but you are not allowed to go any further_," the Priest said, he spoke in Italian and this confused Laura but luckily The Doctor spoke thousands of languages with and without the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"_We are here to see the deity_," The Doctor replied; speaking in fluent Italian.

"_I'm sorry I can't allow that_," The Priest replied, drawing a knife.

Laura replied by simply powering up the laser rifle in her hand; it's whine terrified the man.

"_What is this?_" he gasped.

"_We are from Mount Olympus, sent here to speak with your resident God_," The Doctor told him. "_Now let us through_."

The Priest bowed and opened the doors; letting The Doctor and Laura through into the next room. The chamber was made of marble and gold, pillars rose from the floor to hold up the ceiling and golden tables lay about the place bearing food and wine; Rassilon sat at the throne on a marble platform at the back of the room.

They heard the doors close and The Doctor coughed; Rassilon looked up at him with a sneer. "I told you I'd kill you next time I saw you Lord Doctor."

"That was before you lost your gauntlet of power," The Doctor replied. "I'm not here to fight I just wish to help you retrieve it from The Master."

"And how would you do that Lord Doctor?" Rassilon asked with a sneer.

"By using weapons from the Omega Arsenal," The Doctor replied.

"What's the Omega Arsenal?" Laura asked.

"Ancient Time Lord weapons and relics that were locked in the Time Vaults by the Time Lords themselves," The Doctor replied. "But before I relocated Galifrey to a safer location they were moved, in case the Daleks got their hands on them, by the Time Lords. That's why I've come to ask you," he stared at Rassilon directly in the eyes. "Where were the Vaults moved to?"

Rassilon smiled. "Since you are aiding me I will tell you Doctor, but if the circumstances were less grave then I would not." He closed his eyes and remembered the coordinates. "00569-5469/530."

The Doctor typed in the code and smiled, "Thank you Lord Rassilon, we will now be on our way." He activated the device and him and his female companion were gone.

Rassilon stroked his chin, what if The Doctor didn't get his gauntlet back and didn't stop The Master; The Master would then have another set of weapons to add to his impossible arsenal but then what else could he do? He was powerless and he hated to admit it; The Doctor was his last hope.

Light flashed in his marble chamber, Rassilon shielded his eyes and knew what was coming next. The golden Master flew towards the man, "_I knew you were alive!_"

"Stay back Lord Master," Rassilon threatened; not even getting up from his throne.

"Or what?" The Master snapped. "Now where has The Doctor gone?"

"I will never tell you!"

"I was hoping you'd say that," The Master laughed. "Now I get to torture you!"

* * *

The Doctor and Laura appeared outside a set of large metal doors. They looked up and realised that they were in space; the Time Lords had literally ripped the archives out of Galifrey and sent it into space shrouded in a gravity field.

Not speaking a word; The Doctor walked up to the small control panel next to the doors. He whipped out the stolen glasses and examined it. Laura watched as he produced the sonic screwdriver and aimed the device at controls and activated it. Radio waves struck the panel and rapidly broke through the coding and opened the metal doors that were ten times the size of the Time Lord.

They rolled open with a groan and The Doctor wasted no time before entering. As Laura entered behind him, The Doctor sealed the doors and activated the lights by the nearest panel. As they came up one by one, the collection of artefacts, devices, sculptures and weapons became apparent.

"That's quite a collection," Laura gasped as The Doctor began to walk through the gigantic shelves displaying multiple items.

"This is the vault of all of the Time Lord's most precious and most dangerous items," The Doctor told her as he removed the glasses and stowed them in his pocket. "Years ago it would have been a crime for anyone unauthorised to step inside here but now I suppose those rules don't count."

"So what are we looking for?" Laura asked as they delved into the massive vaults.

"Something I used to trick an old enemy a long time ago," he replied; noticing items from his past.

"And that would be?"

"The Hand of Omega."


	14. Chapter 15

Chapter Thirteen

"Put it down here," The Doctor said, placing the box on the ground. He stepped back and looked around at the dead eye of harmony chamber.

"What are you going to do?" Laura asked. "This place is dead!"

"For now," The Doctor replied. "You see, recently I met up with my future and past incarnations to save the universe so I know that the T.A.R.D.I.S survives. I don't know what they look like or what we did but I do know that future me still travels by T.A.R.D.I.S and that means that what I do now will work."

"And what are you going to do?"

"Create a black hole within the eye and jump start it," The Doctor replied. "Now give me a second." He produced the sonic screwdriver and activated the device. Slowly the brown box began to hum and began to work. "It should form a black hole within the ship and bring it back to life."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Then we are dead."

* * *

The Master was growing worried; he couldn't find The Doctor anywhere and that scared him, The Doctor could be anywhere and The Master had no idea when he would spring back up.

He sat on his golden throne and looked out onto his kingdom. In mere days he'd conquered the known universe and had kept a tight grip on all of his land. But The Doctor threatened all this and he couldn't let him.

"_Where are you Doctor?_" he muttered. "_Where are you hiding?_"

Suddenly a strange noise filled the chamber and The Master knew what was coming. The light flashed and the blue box of The Doctor's T.A.R.D.I.S appeared. Slowly The Doctor stepped out and stared at The Master.

"How did you do that?" The Master asked; genuinely intrigued.

"The Hand of Omega," The Doctor replied. "Slung it into the eye of harmony and jump started the ship."

"It seems a shame," The Master replied. "All that hard work when I'm just going to kill you!"

The Master flicked out his hand and blue energy darted towards the blue box but stopped a few metres from The Doctor. "How?" He sent out a blast and another and another; growing more and more frustrated.

"Shields borrowed from Rassilon's Tomb," The Doctor replied. "You can't attack me while I'm in here."

"Then come out!" he shouted, rising from his throne.

"Oh no," The Doctor smiled. "You will have to come and catch me." The Time Lord disappeared into the box and shut the doors; the engines groaned and the ship vanished.

The Master cursed and punched his throne; knocking it backwards. "I see so this is a game? Well I can play as well!" The Master closed his eyes, locked onto the T.A.R.D.I.S and followed it into the Vortex. For once this was a game The Master would win; he was sure of it!

* * *

The Doctor rapidly typed code into a key pad before turning a dial to maximum. "Hold down the blue button right near to you," The Doctor commanded to Laura who did as she was asked. The Time flicked two switches before moving around the console again. "It's times like these that I wish I had five other pilots!"

"What?" Laura asked, still pressing down the button.

The whole console room bucked and the pair nearly fell onto their backs. "Six Panels, Six Pilots and I fly this thing all by myself!" The Time Lord pushed down another control in an attempt to steady the ship's course.

"No wonder it's so _bumpy_," she replied, the ship rocking once more as she said the last word. "So what are you doing?"

"Playing chase with The Master," The Doctor replied; constantly working controls on the console. "I know he'll follow and that will be his downfall."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to ride into the heart of a black hole," The Doctor told her as he pressed five more keys and flicked another stabiliser switch.

"I'm not a great scientist but even I know that you shouldn't do that!"

"Well it's a good thing I'm a great one!" The Doctor laughed as he kept activating stabilisers. "Blacks holes power the T.A.R.D.I.S meaning they can escape the effects of the Black Hole but The Master will be sucked in!"

"But isn't he all powerful, can't he just escape?"

"No because the Black Hole will pull the energy out of him," The Doctor replied. "The gauntlet will move but it won't take him with it as you see, the Gauntlet is like the T.A.R.D.I.S, it has a mind and when it knows The Master will die it'll reappear in my T.A.R.D.I.S…well hopefully it will."

"So this is all speculation."

"Isn't it always?" The Time Lord smiled as they neared their location.

Laura laughed and tried to stand up right by holding onto the console as the ship shook one more time and stopped. The Doctor raised power to the shields; he then activated the scanner and beckoned Laura over, "Laura Pullman, we are now in the Heart of a Black Hole."

Laura looked at the screen to see darkness; she thought he was joking but then she saw the streams of light being sucked through and down a strange sort of corridor.

"Beautiful isn't it?" The Time Lord smiled, adjusting his bow tie which was in pristine condition whereas his shirt and trousers were not. The scanner picked up a reading and The Doctor's smile disappeared. "The Master's near."

A golden figure appeared on the scanner; he waved but then stopped and went rigid. Laura could see The Master's mouth moving but she couldn't see what he was saying and frankly she didn't want to; the words of a dying maniac were not going to pleasant.

The energy began to move off The Master's body slowly at first and then the trickle turned into a flood. Golden light cascaded down the black holes corridor in an amazing light show and began to disappear. The blue gauntlet grew brighter and disappeared off his hand. Then they noticed what The Master was doing.

The Master was holding his breath, clearly in agony from the effects of the black hole, and working the Vortex Manipulator on his wrist.

"He's making a jump!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"What are we going to do?"

A miniature Time Vortex appeared and swallowed The Master whole.

"Nothing," The Doctor replied. "In a black hole there's no trace signal to follow." The Time Lord turned to the console and set it to dematerialise.

"So you're letting him go?"

"Well what am I supposed to do?"

Laura then noticed the absence of Rassilon's Gauntlet, "So where's the gauntlet then?"

"Well it's either lost in space _or _the most likely possibility is that it has returned to Rassilon himself."

"So all done?"

"Yes…all done?" The Doctor replied, activating a few more controls on the T.A.R.D.I.S. He knew The Master would return, he always did and that's what worried him. The Doctor in a way knew The Master would escape and that put the idea into his head. '_Could The Doctor ever kill The Master?_'

A memory from long ago floated into The Doctor's head and he knew where The Master would come up next and it would not be good. But that was in the past; all he needed to do now was focus on the future.

"I'll let the Old Girl have a rest while I get a new change of clothes," The Doctor smiled, clapping his hands together. "I suggest you have a rest as well; this has been a hell of time."


	15. Chapter 16

Chapter Fifteen

The Doctor had decided to do away with his blue tuxedo type look, it had died with the old suit, and began to rummage around in his large collection of clothing. Ever regeneration had a common theme with their clothing and for this body he guessed it was 'blue'.

After at least an hour of trying on clothes he found the perfect apparel. He'd managed to find a blue velvet cutaway coat, a white button up shirt, a pair of dark blue trousers, black leather shoes that were the same design as his old pair and top it all off; a long scarf made out of multiple shades of blue wool.

After fitting all his 'must have' items in the pockets like his scanner, glasses and sonic screwdriver; The Doctor headed back to the console room where Laura was waiting for him.

"Nice scarf," she smiled, pointing to the large mess of wool around his neck.

"Well I rather like it," The Time Lord replied; feeling the end of the scarf moving about behind him. "It's very _reminiscent_ of days gone and past."

"Whatever that means…"

"So where to now?" The Doctor asked; pressing a few control keys and flicking a red switch.

"Home," she replied bluntly. "Earth; 2012, Tower of London."

"Oh," The Doctor sighed; he stopped slightly, clearly disappointed, and then started moving again. "Okay, let's get you back home."

"Are you okay?" she asked as the glass time rotor began to rise and fall.

"Yes I'm fine," The Doctor replied. "How's your shoulder?"

"Much better," she smiled. "It'll scar but nothing bad. And what about your…um, cuts?"

"Oh they're healing up nicely," The Doctor told her, pushing down a final control; they were nearly at their destination. "I can't complain really."

"Good, good," Laura smiled.

The T.A.R.D.I.S touched down with it's usual '_thunk_' and The Doctor moved away from the console and crossed his arms. "Earth, 2012, Tower of London; five minutes after you left, it's almost like you were never gone at all."

"That's…that's…that's amazing, it's so…_you_."

"What you think I'm amazing?" The Doctor smirked; walking towards the ship's doors.

"Of course I do," Laura smiled. "And if you weren't over five hundred years too old for me; I'd be all over you."

"Oh really?" The Doctor sniggered; opening the door and hearing the distant noises of inner city London.

"Of course," she walked over to the Time Lord, grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him in for a kiss. Their lips connected and sparks flew; she pressed him up against the wooden door frame before letting him go and jumping out of the ship.

The Doctor turned his head, slightly dazed by the moment, to see Laura walking away, "I'll be seeing you again Doctor!"

"Oh I hope so Colonel!" The Doctor shouted back before stepping back into the T.A.R.D.I.S and closing the blue doors behind him. A large smile was plastered to his face as he walked to the console and pushed down multiple controls. "Oh I'll definitely be seeing her again!"

The Time Rotor rose and fell and the engines began to grind and moan; The Doctor was leaving the building!


End file.
